Review #627: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

 I've always dreamt about a game based on Roald Dahl's writings. But not like this. Not like this!

 I could try to be ambiguous and mysterious about the game's quality before getting on with the review... but is it really gonna fool anybody? The game's a mess. It's the bottom of the barrel as far as licensed videogames on the PS2 go, it's what you've got left after you're done scraping what's left inside the barrel.

 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is meant to be a tie-in of the movie with the same name, but it kinda isn't. This Willy Wonka looks a bit like Johnny Depp's version, but besides two unlockable trailers there's nothing tying this game with the movie. Regardless, the game haphazardly follows the story of the eccentric Willy Wonka, who hides a golden ticket inside five different chocolate bars and whoever gets a ticket gets invited to his factory, under the promise of a prize. Charlie is one of the winners, and alongside four other kids he gets to visit inside Willy's factory, a place both whimsical and dangerous. The game does a poor job at retelling the story, each chapter is prefaced with a lackluster narration alongside some spectacular 2-D art. Hilariously, the 2-D art doesn't match the in-game graphics, however, by the same token, the in-game art direction was brilliant as well, pretty minimalistic and cartoonish... and it works well. Animations are choppy, but hey, it looks great in pictures!

 Because there was no correct way of translating the source material, except, maybe an adventure game such as the Telltale series or even Monkey Island, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on the PS2 is a puzzle game. As Charlie you must find Oompa-Loompas and guide them to operate various machines in order to progress. As you go through the game you'll also get access to different candies, such as one that lets you fly, one that encases you in a giant candy sphere and a bouncing gum that let's you jump higher. On paper, there's promise to the set-up, but everything is very sloppy. What little combat there is is a mess, you have to hold down the square button for Charlie to lock on-to an enemy before firing a jawbreaker, but enemies have unnecessarily long invulnerability periods. Luckily, death is but a slap on the wrist, and enemies are so dumb you can just shoot from afar.

 One of the biggest issues is how unresponsive the game is. BE prepared to having to position yourself correctly before the order to work fires off your Oompa-Loompas. And, sometimes, they love to get stuck while following your or on the way to their jobs. Movement, which includes a lot of jumping, feels very choppy and the camera likes to get stuck around objects. Regardless, nothing feels quite 'right', the entire game is janky and, sadly, very, very boring. Puzzles aren't hard to solve, although sometimes it isn't very clear just what the hell the game wants you to do. R2 can sometimes solve this, since it's a hint on what to do.

 The good news? The hand-drawn art is beautiful and the in-game graphics are a delight that capture how the world of Roald Dahl looks, plus, I think the game's premise, on paper, is great. The bad news? The execution is terrible, the entire game feels as if it was developed on a 3 dollar and one lollipop budget.
 2.0 out of 10